There’s A Rising Trend Of Covid-19 Deaths In Pregnant Woman And It’s Scary
70 pregnant mothers have died due to Covid-19 complications this year.
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The news of celebrated singer Siti Sarah passing away due to Covid-19 shocked the nation and the news that made headlines across the world was how it happened after she gave birth and never got to hold her baby.
Siti Sarah was eight months pregnant. Unfortunately, she was also unvaccinated.
(Credit: sitisarahraissuddin / Instagram)
The rise in numbers of pregnant mothers with Covid-19
In a recent statement by Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the rise first became apparent in October last year with an average of 200 pregnant mothers catching the virus in the following months thereafter.
Seven months later in May this year, the number more than quadrupled with 850 expectant mothers infected and there were 899 cases reported in June.
Of those who are in intensive care, there has been an increase from 3% on 10 July to 5.3% on 7 August.
Dr Noor Hisham pointed out that while only 1 in 220 cases of infection involved pregnant women, they are over-represented in the ICU.
“The ratio of Covid-19-infected pregnant women receiving intensive care, compared to the total number of critical Covid-19-infected patients, is 1 in 20,” he said.
The majority of those who died were unvaccinated
Dr Noor Hisham reports the first rise of deaths in expectant mothers was detected in June with 17 reported. Among the deaths were two mothers who received only one dose of the Covid1-9 vaccine and the other 15 were unvaccinated.
47% of those deaths had some form of comorbidity.
As of 8 August, the MoH has recorded a total of 146,759 pregnant mothers who have registered for the Covid-19 vaccine on MySejahtera with 83,251 who have received at least one dose of the vaccine. However, only 20% have completed both doses.
Studies have shown an increased risk of developing severe Covid-19 if they are infected, compared with non-pregnant women of a similar age.
Registration for vaccination of pregnant women is still low
In a report by the Malay Mail, based on the estimated number of pregnant women a year, the percentage of pregnant women who registered to get vaccinated on the MySejahtera application is still low, at 40%.
Although a personal choice, the Special Committee on Ensuring Access To Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) notes that the risk of contracting a Covid-19 infection outweighs the risk of the vaccine and that every pregnant woman should consider getting vaccinated.
The vaccination should be administered between 14 to 33 weeks of gestation.
If in doubt, consult your doctor to enable you to make an informed decision.
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